Dmitri Shostakovich began to work on Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District in 1930. Based on a plot by Nikolaj Leskov, the opera tells of the oppressed Katerina, whose life is disrupted by her intense love for the shady Sergei and who tries to secure her happiness with murder. Upon its completion in 1934, the work was simultaneously prepared by two theatres: the premiere took place in Leningrad and two days later it was shown in Moscow, where, as in other cities, the opera was a great success. Shortly after the first performances, Shostakovich was forced to change sections that were too sexually explicit. After Stalin attended a performance of the opera in 1936 and then published a scathing review about it, colleagues and critics who had previously approved of the opera turned against Shostakovich. It wasn't until some 30 years later that the opera was performed again in the Soviet Union, in a toned-down version under the title Katerina Ismailova; this was also performed internationally. Finally, in 1980 the original version came to Western Europe. In 2009 it was premiered at the Vienna State Opera too. The highly acclaimed premiere of the original version is featured on this recording.

Artists

Angela Denoke (Katerina Lwowna Ismailowa), Kurt Rydl (Boris Timofejewitsch Ismailow), Marian Talaba (Sinowi Borissowitsch Ismailow), Misha Didyk (Sergej Fillipitsch), Thomas Kober (Mühlenarbeiter), Donna Ellen (Axinja), Marcus Pelz (Hausknecht · Wächter), Michael Roider (Der Schäbige), Hans Peter Kammerer (Verwalter · Polizist), Gerhard Reiterer (Erster Vorarbeiter), Oleg Zalytskiy (Zweiter Vorarbeiter), Janusz Monarcha (Pope), Eijiro Kai (Polizeichef), Wolfram Igor Derntl (Lehrer), Franz Gruber (Betrunkener Gast), Dan Paul Dumitrescu (Alter Zwangsarbeiter), Nadia Krasteva (Sonjketka), Sophie Marilley (Zwangsarbeiterin), Jens Musger (Sergeant)

Wiener Staatsoper, Chor der Wiener Staatsoper, Ingo Metzmacher